Patients undergoing medical procedures, whether in a hospital or in an outpatient setting, often find themselves in an uncomfortable environment. Many things, including the anxiety of having a medical procedure performed on their person, contribute to the discomfort experienced by the patients. In order to perform a procedure, a healthcare provider must have access to the site where the procedure is to be performed. This often results in patients having to take off all or some of their clothes, further increasing their level of anxiety. Without their clothes to protect them from the environment, the cool temperatures of the procedure room can cause patients to feel cold.
One medical procedure that requires access to specific body sites is the administration of chemotherapy. In order to make venous access easier and to facilitate delivery of the chemotherapy to patients, doctors implant porta-caths in the patients. The porta-cath can be implanted subcutaneously, and accessed with a needle each time the patient needs chemotherapy. The actual location of the porta-cath depends upon the surgeon's placement. Thus, the location of the access site varies from patient to patient. Because the site is typically located somewhere on the chest, the patient's clothing usually covers the access site. The patient is required to pull his/her shirt/blouse up, or take it off altogether, leaving the patient exposed to the environment. This can be uncomfortable depending on the temperature of the room where the chemotherapy is administered. For women, this invasion of their modesty increases their discomfort.
Some articles of apparel are designed to allow access to specific parts of the anatomy. There are bras designed to allow an infant access to the mother's breast for nursing. Underpants are designed to allow a person to use the restroom. Ski masks have openings for the eyes and the mouth. All of these items have one thing in common, namely they are designed and manufactured with a known fixed location for the opening that allows access to the body. In such manufactured articles, there is no ability to vary the location of the opening depending on the needs of the individual.
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for positioning and creating an opening in a person's shirt or blouse at a location that varies depending on the underlying location necessary to perform a medical procedure. The created opening allows access to a porta-cath without requiring the patient to remove his/her shirt/blouse.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention.